PE kit issues

PE kit issues

Just wondering what others thought of this and whether you'd mention it to the teacher?

I have a 10 year old daughter in year 6. She came home from school on Friday, which is their PE day, and said they'd been made to go outside in their shorts. It's obviously freezing outside and she was cold. Now, this in itself isn't my problem. If she's running around then she'll warm up. My problem is that the only Muslim girl in her class was allowed to wear long trousers while nobody else was. I am in no way racist, but I feel that this is discrimination against all the other children who were not given a choice of what to wear.

I don't want to go in all guns blazing, but at the same time I feel that it should be the same rule for all children, regardless of their faith. If one child can wear trousers, why can't the others? Would you complain or would you tell your child that that's life and she has to live with it?

No, I wouldnt complain.
Said yourself that dd will warm up, so the only reason you want to take it further, is that the Muslim child wore trousers.
Schools have a responsibility to make adjustments , in terms of a pupils religion/disability etc.

The kit should be designed so that adjustments or alterations do not need to be made for religious or cultural reasons. All this is going to do is cause the other kids to resent the Muslim girl. If the PE kit consisted of long trousers in the first place, there would be no issue.

No, I wouldnt complain.
Said yourself that dd will warm up, so the only reason you want to take it further, is that the Muslim child wore trousers.
Schools have a responsibility to make adjustments , in terms of a pupils religion/disability etc.

Agreed.

Op, turn it around and ask whether you would be happy if your child had to wear long trousers for pe all year round, because one girl in the class had to? Or would you expect your child to be able to wear shorts indoors or in warmer weather?

Op, turn it around and ask whether you would be happy if your child had to wear long trousers for pe all year round, because one girl in the class had to? Or would you expect your child to be able to wear shorts indoors or in warmer weather?

No, I expect them all to be given the choice. The Muslim girl is not forced to wear trousers by the school. That's her family's decision. They have the choice. My daughter wasn't given a choice. For what it's worth, the younger years are allowed to wear trousers and the school's uniform policy states that tracksuits are optional for outdoor PE.

No, I expect them all to be given the choice. The Muslim girl is not forced to wear trousers by the school. That's her family's decision. They have the choice. My daughter wasn't given a choice. For what it's worth, the younger years are allowed to wear trousers and the school's uniform policy states that tracksuits are optional for outdoor PE.

The school's uniform policy states that tracksuits are optional for outdoor PE.

Does your child have tracksuit bottoms in her PE bag & try to wear them but the teacher refuse to let her?
If that's the case I'd have a chat with the teacher.

If she didn't have them or didn't put them on then there's nothing you can complain about. She didn't have the choice because she didn't have tracksuit bottoms with her.

If you do speak to the teacher, it needs to because your daughter wanted to wear the tracksuit bottoms that the uniform policy says she can but was told she was not allowed.
Not because someone else in her class was allowed to wear them as that's not relevant.

Unitom policies should adapt to weather for example my daughters school her pe kit states black t-shirt and black short or leggings, she keeps both shorts and leggings in her or bag and depending on the activity depends on what she wears

Does your child have tracksuit bottoms in her PE bag & try to wear them but the teacher refuse to let her?
If that's the case I'd have a chat with the teacher.

If she didn't have them or didn't put them on then there's nothing you can complain about. She didn't have the choice because she didn't have tracksuit bottoms with her.

If you do speak to the teacher, it needs to because your daughter wanted to wear the tracksuit bottoms that the uniform policy says she can but was told she was not allowed.
Not because someone else in her class was allowed to wear them as that's not relevant.

Yes she had her trousers with her. She was told she wasn't allowed to put them on. Why should she be refused and another child allowed just because of her religion?

Op you state you donít have an issue with her wearing shorts, as she would be warm when running about, so why is it an issue?

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Because she would have preferred to wear trousers. If the rule was that the whole class had to wear shorts then I wouldn't have an issue, but it wasn't.

This is a non issue. Just ask why she wasnít allowed to wear her trousers. She could have asked to get changed once she was outside for example, in which case the teacher is justified in saying no.

Just ask, and if you donít get a reasonable answer, bring up the uniform policy. This isnít about the Muslim girl, itís about the uniform policy seemingly not being followed. But you need the context first.

This is a non issue. Just ask why she wasnít allowed to wear her trousers. She could have asked to get changed once she was outside for example, in which case the teacher is justified in saying no.

Just ask, and if you donít get a reasonable answer, bring up the uniform policy. This isnít about the Muslim girl, itís about the uniform policy seemingly not being followed. But you need the context first.

Totally agree. It's not possible to have a single way of doing things if you're really accommodating religious needs. The muslim girl or her family have made the choice for her to cover up - whatever the weather. So the one size fits all approach will just not work - would you want your daughter to have to wear a tracksuit in a heat wave and a long sleeved PE top? If not then you ca see that there needs to be a policy with enough flexibility to meet everyone's needs. It's actually been really mild for this time of year in some parts so I wonder if the teacher was actually just helping the kids to make the right clothing choice for the temperature in order for them not to overheat? If your daughter was cold you need to talk to the teacher about the fact that she feels the cold (maybe). This is not about religion or discrimination, so it might be best to not try and make it so.

It depends what the uniform policy says about wearing trousers in PE. If it up to the child, then it's not really the teacher's place to make the decision. A teacher cannot have one rule for one and another for someone else based on religion or culture - that is discriminatory. Just because the person being discriminated against is white doesn't mean it isn't discrimination.

I wouldnít give a damn about uniform policy. I left school in 2011 and I point blank refused to wear shorts. My grades never dropped because of it and I was warmer than the other kids and had the full support of my Mum. Itís not necessarily discrimination against your child, I see your point though. Stick to your guns mum.

It depends what the uniform policy says about wearing trousers in PE. If it up to the child, then it's not really the teacher's place to make the decision. A teacher cannot have one rule for one and another for someone else based on religion or culture - that is discriminatory. Just because the person being discriminated against is white doesn't mean it isn't discrimination.

Agree with this. I remember when I was at secondary school (small school really) it was all white British pupils attending. But our teacher said when he was teaching in a city they had to change the uniform policy for girls which at the time was they could only wear skirts.
When a girl joined who due to religious reasons couldn't show her legs they allowed all girls to wear trousers because otherwise it would be discrimination. This is the same thing.
I probably wouldn't say that to the school though. Just point out tracksuit bottoms are the uniform so why couldn't she wear them?

By why couldn't any other child want modesty? Why should only Muslim children be entitled to modesty?

But that's not the way to approach it, you can argue that all kids should have the option to not show flesh if they don't want to - but don't specifically mention the Muslim girl as that just makes you sound a bit childish.

Like people who say "we didn't have X in my day so why should anyone else get it..." It's bitter and doesn't address the point.